A Truck Was Doing 75 MPH When It Hit A Buggy Full Of Amish Teens. The Driver Then Hid It
Back in April, we learned of a bad hit-and-run buggy wreck in Geauga County, Ohio. The driver of a pickup truck hit a horse-and-buggy carrying several Amish teens on a local road at 1 AM.
I was told then by a local source that the driver was from the Amish community, and “was traveling at a very high rate of speed at the time of the accident,” as I noted in that original post.
Now a Geauga County grand jury has indicted the driver, and we have an idea of just how fast he was going at the time of the crash.
As suggested, it was well above the speed limit – a crash reconstruction report puts his truck at 75 miles per hour at the moment of impact.
Danny R. Yoder, 22, of West Farmington, faces six counts. From WFMJ:
Investigators say Yoder’s truck left the scene after allegedly crashing into the buggy along Bundysburg Road in Parkman Township on April 11.
Four people in the buggy were seriously injured. State Troopers say Yoder hid the truck afterwards.
Crash reconstruction experts estimate that the truck was traveling 75 miles per hour when the crash occurred.
It was originally said that two teen girls in the buggy were seriously injured, but this report has it at four. The horse was killed. But it may have done its owner one final and very important service.
My source told me the animal was hit head-on, and reportedly absorbed much of the impact. Which (I speculate) may be why the people in the buggy are alive.
The Charges
A warrant has been issued for Yoder’s arrest. The charges are as follows, according to Cleveland 19:
- One count of tampering with evidence
- Four counts of vehicular assault
- One count of failure to stop after an accident
The Geauga County Maple Leaf reports the indictment was filed August 18 in Geauga County Court of Common Pleas, and lists the tampering with evidence count as a third-degree felony – the most serious charge in the set.
The four vehicular assault counts are fourth-degree felonies. That’s one for each occupant of the buggy. Failure to stop after an accident is a fifth-degree felony.
What Happened In April
The crash occurred at roughly 1 AM on April 11. Yoder was driving a 2014 white Chevy Silverado southbound on Bundysburg Road. An Amish buggy driven by 18-year-old James Miller was traveling northbound.
The Ohio State Highway Patrol reported at the time that Yoder’s truck went left of center, struck the horse and buggy, then swerved off the road and into a ditch. Yoder was uninjured, as was his passenger. After freeing the truck from the ditch, he left the scene.
There’s no information on where the truck was hidden. But as others in similar circumstances have learned, that’s not exactly a good cover-up strategy.
Bundysburg Road is a rural two-lane road running through the heart of the Geauga County Amish settlement, the fourth-largest Amish community in the world.
A young man from the Amish community driving a pickup truck is less unusual than it may sound. In a number of communities, unbaptized Amish young people obtain driver’s licenses during their running-around years, before making the decision to join the church.
Yoder apparently has not yet been taken into custody, but a warrant is out for his arrest. The prosecutor’s office says he will be arraigned in Common Pleas Court once he is in custody.
